Eighty-Seven Miles
by The Fifth Dimension
Summary: Being in a long-distance relationship was difficult, but Becky and Sasha would learn that no amount of distance could keep them apart for long - even if the distance was only eighty-seven miles.
**Author's Note: Hey, all! So, things have been busy lately, but I found time to write about something I've been thinking about for a while. Just some all around happy feelings for everyone. It stars my favorite couple (that will be totally real in kayfabe IT WILL BE... please?) and is AU as heck. At any rate, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 ** _Eighty-Seven Miles_**

* * *

Sitting (im)patiently in her seat waiting for her test results, Becky Lynch couldn't stop her body from constantly fidgeting. It was only the beginning of the semester, and she was already a miserable, nervous wreck. She had the foresight to know that her junior year of university was going to be difficult, what with her part-time job already stressing her out five times a week, but she didn't think that her soul would be this crushed so early into the academic year. It felt as if an elephant was using her body as a convenient resting place.

Was she having a heart attack?

She brought her clammy palm to her chest, feeling the rapid beating of her heart. Okay, she wasn't having a heart attack, but if this professor didn't speed it up with the exams, she was going to faint for sure. She took a second to slyly glance around the classroom at the remaining students, and it seemed as though no one else was as worried as she was, much to her annoyance. Though, _they_ wouldn't be forced to travel back to Ireland to live with their parents if they flunked out.

Lucky them.

"Lynch."

The calling of her last name being called caused Becky to bolt upright in her seat. She quickly jumped from her chair, nearly tripping over her own bag as she did so. Reaching the professor's desk, Becky let forth a meek 'Yes?' despite knowing full well what was taking place. Without another sound, save the shuffling of papers and clicking of a pen, the professor handed Becky her graded exam. She hesitantly flipped it over, her heart sinking as she stared at the letter marked boldly in red ink at the top of her page.

"C? No. No. Sir, there must be s-some mistake. I can't get a C."

"Ms. Lynch, if you have a complaint about the exam, you'll have to make an appointment," the professor stated, still nose-deep in a stack of ungraded papers. When he noticed her still standing there, he sighed. "I'm sorry, but the results are final. You're free to leave now, Ms. Lynch."

Her head hung low, Becky grabbed her bag and hastily fled the classroom, fighting back tears that tugged relentlessly at the corners of her eyes. No, she couldn't do this now - not here. She had to tough it out somehow, and hope for the best on her next tests. It was during times like these, she thought to herself, where she wished that Sasha was still here.

When Becky had first arrived in the United States, she didn't realize how different things would be. While she adjusted to her new lifestyle nicely - immediately picking up a job to pay for her own apartment - university was another beast entirely. Getting an education abroad was such an exciting prospect; it was her dream to leave her home in Dublin, to see the rest of the world, and she took the first opportunity she could to do so. She wasn't prepared for just how depressing university life would be, for more reasons than the academics.

It was lonely here, very lonely. Coming from a foreign country with no knowledge of anything here, she expected to not make many friends right away. What she didn't expect, however, was for everyone to avoid her like a walking plague. For the longest time, she was unable to make even one friend, and only had guesses as to what the problem could be. She was generally a sociable person, using humor as a gateway for conversation. She was a couple of years older than the average student, but she didn't think that would matter as much as it apparently did. That and her interesting choice in clothing - a style she referred to as 'steampunk' - didn't scream "Please be my friend!" If anything, it did the opposite. She had all but given up the hope on ever making friends when she met the one person that didn't seem to mind her presence.

Sasha.

Like a majority of the other students, Sasha was a younger than Becky. Not by much, but enough to be off-putting to some people. Sasha was not 'some people,' and instantly took a liking to Becky, and vice versa. Becky's humorous nature melded perfectly with Sasha's natural snarky attitude. Sasha had picked the Irish woman as a last resort World History partner, and the two surprisingly hit it off. It would be no stretch for Becky to say that Sasha was the greatest friend that she'd ever had, and greatest girlfriend as well.

So of course things would abruptly change.

With only two years left in their college careers, Sasha was less than pleased to have to cancel her studies and move back home due to unfortunate circumstances; Sasha's family was going through a rough patch and needed her support. Sasha's hometown was only about a two hour drive from where Becky currently lived, but that two hour drive might as well have been a thousand hours, especially since they had yet to see each other in person since Sasha's move. That was four months ago, and while it took time to accept the hole in her life as commonplace, Becky was still unable to fully bounce back. Still, they made every effort to keep their long distance relationship going, texting and calling as many times a week as was physically possible.

Back leaned against the outside wall of her classroom, Becky took one last look at her test - the 'C' mocking her openly - before crumpling up the paper and tossing it into her bag.

She really needed to talk to Sasha.

* * *

Scrolling through her contacts, Becky thumbed the name 'Sasha! :)' as she came across it. She knew her schedule well enough to know that Sasha would more than likely be free now. The phone only rang twice before she answered.

"Hey, Becks. What's up?"

"You could be a tad more excited to hear my voice! Maybe a, 'Golly, Becky, you're so cool! I can't live without you!' or a, 'My life is so boring. Please come back to me, my love!' Just a thought."

Sasha huffed loudly. "We've been on the phone for thirty seconds and you're already being this way."

"Being what way?"

"Like… extra Becky."

"Don't you mean 'Beckstra?'" Becky laughed, the only one of them to do so, as she flopped onto her bed. The weight of her unsatisfactory grade was still bringing her mood down, and all she wanted to do was lie down and have a nice chat.

"No. No I don't. I will never mean 'Beckstra.'"

The pleasantries coming to an end, the conversation lulled into a peaceful state, with both women venting about various aspects of their lives. Becky had never been happier to hear a story about one of Sasha's lazy coworkers.

"He didn't even clean the damn thing properly. I had to do it myself. But I'm not going to lie and say I didn't do it flawlessly."

"Obviously. Anything below flawless wouldn't be up to the Sasha Standard. And that Sasha - she _is_ quite flawless, you know?"

Becky could hear Sasha's breathing pick up, along with quiet mumbling, the sudden compliment affecting her as Becky had intended it to. Making Sasha blush with compliments was one of Becky's favorite hobbies. It was a power that only she had, and she used it repeatedly. Before the orange-haired woman could continue to revel in her girlfriend's adorable awkwardness, she asked the inevitable question that Becky had been dreading.

"How's school? You told me you started a few weeks ago."

The phrase 'How's school?' should be made illegal, Becky mused. It was a legitimate question, but one she didn't want to answer. "It's been um… okay?"

It was a generic response, one that she couldn't even give without seeming unsure. Sasha immediately picked up on this. "Liar!"

"Harsh!"

"You sounded like I asked if your hair was naturally orange. 'Oi, um. Um. Um.' Please."

"This is bullying of the highest order."

"Becky!"

"Okay, okay!" Becky threw her arms in the air, the dramatic gesture losing its impact over the phone. "It's been a nightmare. I'm doing horribly in my classes, and you're not here to kick my butt into gear. I hate it, alright?"

Sasha couldn't help but feel a bit guilty as Becky began to grow frustrated. The move was out of her control, but she left Becky alone, that was true. If this were anyone else, she'd tell them to suck it up and stop crying, but this wasn't anyone else. This was Becky, and she did weird things to her feelings - made her feel weird things. She didn't want to be 'soft,' but she'd promptly take that title if it meant being able to comfort her loving girlfriend. "I didn't want to leave."

"I know."

"I wanted to stay with you."

"I know."

She hated seeing Becky this way, but what could she do?

"Sasha?"

Sasha's ears perked up as she heard her name, spoken softly from the other end of the line. "Yeah?"

"I miss you."

If it was possible for hearts to shatter, Sasha was sure hers was broken into thousands of pieces. The long distance was unbearable, but breaking up would be torture. They never discussed the idea - never entertained the tiniest inkling of a thought - of breaking up. They were in this together, though the pain was certainly taking its toll on Becky in particular.

"I miss you too, Becks. Just hang tight, okay?"

"I'll never let go, and unlike certain movie characters, _I'll_ actually mean it."

"Alright, Rose 2.0 - I've gotta go, but we still have a Skype date tomorrow night."

Becky smiled, and though she couldn't tell, she imagined Sasha was doing the same. "Tomorrow night, then. I love you, Sasha."

"I love you too, dork."

A wave of sadness overcame Becky as the dull noise of the dial tone replaced that of Sasha's voice. She wanted to wrap Sasha in her arms and hold her, she wanted to be able to fall asleep with Sasha by her side. This was the hardest thing that she'd done, and she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to last.

* * *

Stepping into her apartment, Becky furiously tossed her school bag across the living room. Failing grade after failing grade, yet the thing that killed her the most was the overwhelming loneliness. Sasha had barely spoken to her in the two weeks since their last Skype date, and Becky couldn't figure out why. Wasn't she trying to keep their relationship alive just as hard as Becky was? This period of unexpected silence was growing to be too much for Becky. Reaching for her phone, she took a deep breath as she readied herself for what she wanted to say.

As it had done many times in the past few days, Sasha's phone went straight to voicemail, as Becky expected. "Sasha," she began, her voice shaking. "I can't do this. I have no idea where you are, or what you've been doing that's important enough to shut me out, but I'm just... I don't know. I'm fed up. I'm tired, Sasha. I'm tired of being alone, crying my eyes out because everything is so wrong - it's all just so wrong! I don't want to break up, but I _need_ you. Please, I need you. I..."

Rapid knocking stopped Becky in her tracks, the door of her apartment taking a brutal beating. Becky stomped over to the door, halfway forgetting the phone tucked between her shoulder and ear.

"Oh great, now someone is knocking on my door. And it's... you?"

Standing in her hallway was Sasha - a multitude of bags lined up behind her. She could tell that Becky was awestruck. "So," Sasha stated, "Are you going to invite me in, or are you going to keep talking to me on your phone?"

Without a word, Becky shut off her phone, and wrapped Sasha tightly in her arms. The feeling of holding Sasha - feeling her warmth, her body against her own - was beyond anything she could've dreamed of feeling. She managed to utter out a light "How?" in her dazed state.

"I told my family that I can't give up everything I've worked for here. And there's someone I couldn't leave behind."

"Me, right?"

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Yes you, dummy! So, I guess I want to stay here with you. I mean, I assume that's okay...?" Though she asked it jokingly, Becky could see Sasha's eyes almost pleading - begging - with her to say yes.

"Judging by the fact that I have yet to let you go, you assume correctly." Becky looked to Sasha's back, her gaze fixed on Sasha's luggage. "Uh, is that all you brought with you?"

"This is good for two weeks. All of my important things are being brought here later."

"Oi, of course. I wish my apartment was a bit bigger."

"It'll be okay, Becks," Sasha said in an attempt to calm Becky's nerves. Becky seemed to relax, her shoulders now falling in an even rhythm. "We'll live. I'd rather have you close than have to drive ninety miles."

"Eighty-seven, if we're being accurate."

"You counted?"

"No. Google Maps did."

The pair - mostly Becky, but she was more than okay with that - carried Sasha's bags in, and within a matter of minutes, they were sat together on Becky's couch - on their couch - locked in a warm embrace. They had survived four months without each other, but now they had a lot of intimacy to make up for. If there was one thing they learned from this experience, it was that they never wanted to be apart like that, and if they had anything to say about it, they never would be again.

"So, should I listen to your voicemail now or later? I'm wondering which would be more embarrassing. You might want to wipe off your face a bit. You've got tear stains all over you."

Becky groaned. Maybe being apart for another day or two wouldn't exactly kill them.


End file.
